Street name chimes with its station

One of the safest streets in Britain has ended up with a highly appropriate name, after planners and mapmakers turned a blind eye to a property developer's quip.

There were no objections from local residents either, to the choice of Letsby Avenue for the quarter-mile road in which the only building is a police station.

Senior officers in the South Yorkshire force gave the nod to the name - familiar from comedians' routines and children's games - after Sheffield council sent them a straight-faced consultation form for comments.

The Ordnance Survey also had a brief look for any nearby Evenin Hall or Onyer Way, before double checking by post and getting approval on official police notepaper.

"We're not quite sure who sent the letter - it's all a bit might-and-maybe at the moment," said PC Keith Scruton of the police air support unit, whose helicopter flies from a pad on the new road. "Pilots checked for the address when the new Sheffield maps came out, and we couldn't believe it at first. But it's certainly appropriate."

The road was built 18 months ago to connect the M1 with Sheffield's new airport. It is the only Letsby Avenue on the long and colourful list of names for Britain's 800,000-odd roads.

"We looked into it very seriously," said Philip Round of the Ordnance Survey, which does not name roads or streets itself but enlists suggestions from local councils and others.

The name is thought to have been put forward in an office discussion at the Tinsley Park development company, which built the road and other infrastructure for the airport.

A police spokeswoman said: "It seems to fit. We've not had to arrest anybody there yet."

Lie of the land

Sluts Hole Lane in Besthorpe, Norfolk, survived a residents' petition for a change last year. Historically unsmutty, it comes from the Dutch word for sluice, used in draining the fens.

Nuding Close in Wanstead, east London, has long lost its signs. Souvenir hunters couldn't resist them and local residents, tired of endless quips, don't want them back.

Grape Lane in York was renamed by staid Victorians who found the original Grope - historically related to local prostitution - too blatant.

Nice View in Leeds, named after the French resort, looks out on a red brick wall and the back of a shop. Perfect View in Bath has just that.